Singer/songwriter Stefan Murphy made his name as frontman with Dublin, Ireland, pop-punk group the Subtonics, a group that made headlines more often than it made the charts, eventually disbanding in 2005. However, Murphy had jumped ship (an appropriate metaphor, as it goes) a year earlier to pursue a solo career under the moniker the Mighty Stef. Stef's music is far removed from that of his former band's, sharing the stripped-down, D.I.Y. ethos but little in the way of loud guitars or sugary-sweet melodies. The Mighty Stef takes inspiration from artists ranging from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones, while styles including garage rock, gospel, sea shanties, and traditional Irish music -- the Pogues' Shane MacGowan is a particularly notable influence -- are more subtly represented.